This is probably one of the most damning pieces of evidence of American stupidity that I’ve ever seen.

Nixon had Watergate. Clinton had the (white) stained dress. The American public now has this video proving how clueless we are as a nation.

Prepare to have your mind blown!

People sign petition to “increase inflation to 100%” to cause hyperinflation.

[RSS Readers please click to site for video]

If ever there was a piece of evidence to suggest we need a mandatory finance course taught at the high school level… it’s this. I’m not exactly sure how to remedy this problem, but I’m sure the answer somehow involves squeezing tidbits of information between American Idol and Monday Night Football.

The sad thing is that clueless people like these also get to vote in political elections, PTA meetings, etc. Don’t go biting my head off, but perhaps decentralized decision making needs a bit of a re-think since every person in this experiment but two actually signed the ridiculous petition to weaken the U.S. Dollar.

Almost makes you want to start a finance blog and try to educate consumers. Or move to Canada!

(Not sure they would take most of us after watching this.)

~ ~ ~

Hat tip to Mike Shedlock for tipping me off to this video, and major kudos to Mark Dice for shining a light on American stupidity at it’s finest. I fully expect to see this video on CNBC in the very near future.

22 Comments

I can’t rip people for not understanding the effects of inflation because most simply haven’t been taught the lessons nor lived through a hyperinflation scenario. Unfortunately, when we had the last round of stagflation, we did nothing to ensure that future generations would learn those tough lessons. When will economics and personal finance be part of the curriculum?!?
.-= Michael Harr @ Wealth…Uncomplicated´s last blog ..The Three Black Holes of Budgeting – it’s not even close to what you think =-.

In addition to personal finance, this is really a basic economic issue and there should be more economic courses taught in highschools, too – I know I wish I had taken them.

The first two people he got signatures from were downright sheeple perhaps – but at least the girl in pink was thinking about it. Just don’t know why she still signed it despite her reservations. Different shades of dumb!

Hold on, guys. Maybe these folks are crazy like a fox. If I was in debt up to my eyeballs and gainfully employed, I would at least have to strongly consider a nice bout of hyperinflation. Inflation is a massive debtor’s best friend because it rapidly devalues their debt – at the expense of savers and lenders.

I have been saying on my blog all year long that this is indeed exactly what the US government plans to do to get rid of their massive debt. Remember, hyperinflation is a tacit way for the government to tax its citizens – it is essentially taxation without representation.

This is hilarious. Disturbing, but not surprising at all but this was very funny to watch. I mean, we don’t know how many people he interviewed that told him he’s nuts (edited video), but surely, the vast majority of Americans have absolutely no clue. They can tell you who won the Cowboys game and how many chicks the Tiger Woods count is up to, but they couldn’t even tell you what the Fed or the Treasury do. Most people cannot articulate how the housing crisis emerged or what caused it to collapse. Most people can’t tell you the pros/cons of a weak dollar or what impact a dollar collapse would have on them.

Of course America’s full of Sheeples! Do you think the buyer’s remorse has set in yet on Obama voters? It was the “IN” thing to do. We have several friends and family who used to either not vote all or vote Republican that voted for Obama because he was soooo coooool. He gave these great speeches and gave us Hope. As recently as a few weeks back, they had no idea what ACORN was (hello?), they had no idea about the blatant redistribution of wealth that’s occurring in bill after bill (and the impending Healthcare legislation which is the death knell) and how the administration’s single-handedly dismantling this country faster than you can say “spread that money around”. College students, especially, pretty much do whatever their lionized professor tells them to – ain’t it funny how young people always vote liberal and then when they figure it out as they age they turn more conservative? btw – Bush was a complete moron and set us up for disaster as well – not taking sides here – these crooks running our country have absolutely no shame and couldn’t tell the truth if their life depended on it (OK, Obama, no taxes for anyone under $250K – right). I just don’t think people even have any idea after all that has transpired just how screwed this country and the economy is.

What we’re seeing is the decline of the sole military and financial superpower in the word happening before our eyes. Great Britain saw it happen over decades until America was the sole frontrunner; Americans as seeing it happen within just a few years – ceding power to a third world nation that funds out debt – China. China, on a routine basis is hacking our military and civilian infrastructure, engaging in hostile acts against our military in international waters, poisoning our food and toys while laughing all the way to the bank as they continue to fund our debt. We do nothing about it because they own us.

I’m most concerned for our children. I have a career and have saved enough money and employ responsible financial habits such that we’ll likely be OK in retirement. Our children – that’s another story. Not exactly set up to enter the “land of opportunity” as prior generations did.

Len – true hyperinflation is an absolute tragedy for all involved. economies devolve into complete chaos. Even if you have a high paying job, your income means nothing when you have to literally take an entire wheelbarrow full of currency down to buy a loaf of bread for your family. No exaggeration, this is what has happened historically during times of hyperinflation. While people carrying credit card debt and mortgage debt might think they’re real bright in bringing on inflation, with unemployment at 10%, there’s no incentive whatsoever for employers to increase pay. So, it’s a double-hit. More layoffs, steady pay for those who remain employed, while everything costs more.
.-= Darwin’s Finance´s last blog ..Why I Passed on a 90% Pay Increase – What’s Your Price? =-.

@Darwin: Employers will pay higher wages regardless of the unemployment numbers; they really have no choice. Otherwise, there is no incentive to work (at least for the employers who fail to raise wages to keep up with inflation). :-)
.-= Len Penzo´s last blog ..The Best of the Best in Money and Personal Finance #9 =-.

Len,
The problem is hyperinflation happens rather quickly and with so much slack in the workforce and employers looking to maintain an optimal bottom line, they’re not going to raise employee pay for the sake of doing it. They would only do so slowly in order to prevent defection of key employees. However, with so many people out of work, and so many more entering the ranks of the unemployed, it would be unlikely that pay would even nearly keep up with hyperinflation. Totally hypothetical though, so who knows. We’re not Zimbabwe.
.-= Darwin’s Finance´s last blog ..Why I Passed on a 90% Pay Increase – What’s Your Price? =-.

Dec 10, 200910:48 am

#10 blueshound :

You think it’s just Americans? Canada’s no better, friends. We’re human beings first and just as susceptible to this kind of non-sense in our own way. We had a comedy show a while back called “Talking to Americans” where a comic posing a journalist went around asking Americans questions, like “Do you think Canada should name it’s Parliament “The Igloo”?”
The steady diet of take a look at what’s going on in the insane asylum TV/Internet video reaches us and everywhere else.

I don’t know about all that. I couldn’t honestly tell you anything about it other than what I read in Angels & Demons.

Jan 1, 20108:49 pm

#14 BadBoysDriveAudi :

Every individual but two? Yeah – but one of those “two” didn’t sign because she was more afraid to commit to a decision either way. How about she just say “no, thank you, because that’s completely idiotic!”

I knew there was a reason to listen to my elders. That older gentleman was the only educated one out of the lot. Says a lot about what’s being taught today…and a lot about the willingness of our citizens to actually LEARN something and educate themselves.

I had hope for the young lady in pink. At least she was questioning the petition and the future effects. Too bad she really didn’t know what she was talking about as her confidence caved as the supporting comments kept flying. She said all the right stuff; she just didn’t know what it meant.

I’m going off to cry now…

Jan 1, 20108:57 pm

#15 Matt SF :

I’m not sure if this inflation story can beat the “dihydrogen monoxide” story you mentioned. I mean, inflation is one thing but everyone should know what H2O means.

You might have topped it Roger! Nice work.

Jan 1, 20109:06 pm

#16 Matt SF :

True, the lady who didn’t signed the petition seemed too wishy-washy to sign anything.

Of course, the older gent who didn’t sign was also playing chess, so you can reasonably guess he’s the kind of gent that reads more than the horoscopes in his local newspaper.

I’m not certain if people will just sign any old thing just because they’re afraid of offending someone, or if they’re just that clueless about financial markets. As long as they have American Idol, I guess everything is okay.

Jan 4, 20101:54 pm

#17 BadBoysDriveAudi :

I thought of the percentage of people who would sign in order to not offend, but quickly lost patience with that idea as well. They could, in fact, be signing their life away in an effort to “not offend” (H2 example). So in my book, that’s on par with signing something with respect to a topic which you don’t understand.

I’m curious if it’s the tendency of people exhibiting a “why can’t we just get along” attitude that causes this sort of behavior, if they’re completely devoid of common sense knowledge, or if they’ll buy any argument imaginable when subjected to a really good sales pitch.

Sounds like a good PhD project for the social psychologists/behavioral economists out there. (If the answers haven’t already been found of course.)

Jan 5, 20102:17 am

#20 BadBoysDriveAudi :

You’re right – it is a much larger audience, but what is it about us that we’re able to discern the subject matter as H20 whereas everyone else blindly signs the petition? It’s not like we’re all Chemical Engineers here (lower your hand, Darwin…you don’t count! ;>).

Wasn’t Chemistry a required course in prep school? Why is it that any one of us could spend just a couple of seconds analyzing the term “dihydrogen monoxide” and figure it out while *hundreds* of folks couldn’t?

I’m sure any one of them could provide some excuse to explain away the differences between the two groups, but I’m not sure I’d buy anything put forth.